Togepi Line/HGSS
Togepi is only available as a gift Pokémon, received from Elm's aide in Violet City as an Egg. The hatched Togepi will always have Serene Grace as an ability, and the Egg move Extrasensory. When it comes to considering which Pokémon got an actual upgrade from the older games, Togetic is the first to raise a hand. Previously completely barren in movepool, this Pokémon is now all sorts of useful, and capable of making a difference starting right after hatching, with the amazing move Extrasensory. Being a friendship-based evolution, Togepi can be evolved into Togetic as early or as late as the player's leisure commands; it will generally evolve between Goldenrod and Ecruteak naturally, in the neighbourhood of the early 20s, but with some walking around the evolution can be anticipated as much as before Bugsy's gym. Its base stats make it an incredibly powerful Pokémon in the early game, and a fairly useful one even after that; and while Togetic does lose some steam towards the late game in Johto, the availability of the Shiny Stone makes it all better right after the League, when it transforms again into the battle machine it was back when it first evolved. With an amazing special movepool, an even more amazing support movepool, and the stats to back up both a fully offensive and a mixed-defensive set, Togetic is nothing like the weakling that you used to know - and if given the opportunity, it will definitely surprise you. Important Matchups * Proton (Slowpoke Well): Use Extrasensory, ???, profit. Just be wary of confusion from Zubat's Supersonic, if it hits, or possibly annoying accuracy reductions from Koffing's SmokeScreen, as well as its Poison Gas. Out-of-battle poisoning doesn't kill anymore, but a mix of confusion and poison damage might. * Gym #2 - Bugsy (Azalea Town, Bug-type): * Rival (Azalea Town): Nuke Gastly and Zubat with Extrasensory no matter which form you're in, then take cover for the starter, which is evolved and dangerous for Togepi. Togetic, on the other hand, can fight the starter as well, though only if not (or no longer) under the effects of Gastly's Curse. It is also wise to switch out, and maybe switch back in later, in the event that Togetic has been confused by Zubat's Supersonic. * Gym #3 - Whitney (Goldenrod City, Normal-type): * Rival (Burned Tower): Extrasensory still does a smooth job against Gastly and Zubat, while Magnemite requires stall or, preferably, Flamethrower or Fire Blast. Flamethrower is the preferred option, as it removes the necessity for Togetic to take supereffective STAB ThunderShock to the face, which is more damaging than expected for an unevolved Pokémon, as well as the fastidious Thunder Wave. Bayleef and Quilava are fairly easy, but Croconaw has Ice Fang: avoid it. * Gym #4 - Morty (Ecruteak City, Ghost-type): * Eusine (Cianwood City): * Gym #5 - Chuck (Cianwood City, Fighting-type): * Gym #6 - Jasmine (Olivine City, Steel-type): * Petrel (Team Rocket HQ): Zubat can be easily Extrasensory'd to death, though Koffing needs to be outsped for that, as it will explode otherwise. As for Raticate, consider carefully whether to fight it or not, depending on Togetic's level and remaining HP: it has Hyper Fang and Sucker Punch, which might hurt Togetic; you can play it safe and Yawn + Protect if your health is high enough, that should do it in. * Ariana (Team Rocket HQ): Togetic can reasonably hope to defeat Arbok and Gloom by Extrasensory-ing them, and stall out the Drowzee, then taking out Grimer with ease. However, Murkrow is fairly powerful and fast, and it has Pursuit. Consider carefully when to defeat each Pokémon if you plan on letting Togetic stay in, as a Pursuit on the switch isn't fun for anyone. If Murkrow is the last Pokémon standing, it should not pose much of a problem being defeated, but Togetic's health needs to stay high for that purpose. If you already have AncientPower, or have opted to keep Fire Blast, your job will be much easier. * Gym #7 - Pryce (Mahogany Town, Ice-type): * Petrel (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Extrasensory away for all five Koffing, as they are slower than you, but all aboard the NOPE train for Weezing. Weezing has Explosion, and there's NO way Togetic will take a critical hit from that move... assuming it can even tank a regular one. Don't do it. * Rival (Goldenrod Basement): Golbat and Haunter are easy peasy as ever with Extrasensory, and Magnemite is easy if you have a Fire move. Sneasel also is with AncientPower, surprisingly, or with stall: Icy Wind really doesn't do a lot coming from it. Faint Attack might paradoxically damage you more than that. As for the starter, usual rules: avoid Feraligatr due to Ice coverage, feel free to take on the other two. * Proton (Goldenrod Radio Tower): More Extrasensory spam. Weezing is safe to fight too, as it doesn't have SelfDestruct or Explosion; its best move is Sludge, which Togetic should be able to tank without a problem. Again, mind the confusion and accuracy reduction combo, as it could become problematic if it stacks up. * Ariana (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Much like the Rocket HQ battle, except this one is a single and Murkrow will likely come last, making it easier to switch out Togetic before risking an on-switch Pursuit. Arbok and Vileplume should pose no problem at all, though Arbok's Crunch may stack up Defense nerfs if you can't 2HKO it with Extrasensory. Use Yawn and Protect when needed to reduce the damage intake. * Archer (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Stalling will be necessary here, as even AncientPower won't do a huge lot of damage despite Houndour's and Houndoom's weakness to it. Yawn + Protect should be used to reduce their damage output, and Extrasensory is the right way to go for Koffing. Houndoom has an essentially fully physical moveset (unless you count Smog, and frankly, it's Smog for crying out loud), with moves never above 65 base power, which is a reasonably tankable amount for Togetic. * Gym #8 - Clair (Blackthorn City, Dragon-type): * Ho-Oh (HeartGold only): * Lugia (SoulSilver only): * Rival (Victory Road): The lead Sneasel still has no physical Ice coverage, so it should be easy enough, especially with AncientPower; Golbat and Haunter are just the usual story. Kadabra's Psybeam should not hurt much, though you will need to stall it out with Yawn if you want to win, because Togetic won't damage it much more. Magneton has Spark, which is probably better avoided; Togetic might take one, but it's unrealistic to expect Flamethrower to OHKO at this point, unless you have a great level advantage. Don't fight Feraligatr for the usual reasons, the other two are okay. * Elite Four Will (Indigo Plateau, Psychic-type): * Elite Four Koga (Indigo Plateau, Poison-type): * Elite Four Bruno (Indigo Plateau, Fighting-type): * Elite Four Karen (Indigo Plateau, Dark-type): * Champion Lance (Indigo Plateau, Flying-type): * Gym #9 - Brock (Pewter City, Rock-type): * Rival (Mt. Moon, optional): * Gym #10 - Misty (Cerulean City, Water-type): * Gym #11 - Lt. Surge (Vermilion City, Electric-type): * Gym #12 - Erika (Celadon City, Grass-type): * Gym #13 - Janine (Fuchsia City, Poison-type): * Gym #14 - Sabrina (Saffron City, Psychic-type): * Gym #15 - Blaine (Seafoam Islands, Fire-type): * Gym #16 - Blue (Viridian City): * Rival (Indigo Plateau, optional): * Red (Mt. Silver): Moves Togepi's initial moveset normally consists of only Growl and Charm. However, the Togepi Egg received from Elm's aide will also carry one more Egg move: Extrasensory. This is easily Togepi's best move ever learned by level until Togekiss status, and with Serene Grace, it has an amazing 60% chance of flinching any opponent you can outspeed. Togepi learns Metronome at level 6, which can be unexpectedly useful and fun, but it also carries the risk of copying one of the self-KOing moves that are dreaded for nuzlockers. It then gets Sweet Kiss at level 10, which should replace Growl; Togepi can go to great lengths with paralysis support, and confusion only helps its role as an annoyer/tank. Following on with the support moves, Togepi and Togetic both get Yawn at 15, which is fantastic when paired with Protect from the Goldenrod Dept. Store, and very useful even without, both for fighting and for catching. Encore comes at level 19, but should be ignored. Follow Me, at level 24, should also be given up on. The next useful move comes at level 28, again for both Pokémon, and it's Wish: while not generally very useful for runs with unlimited healing, it is great for those with limited healing and/or Set mode players, especially when you need a safer switch-in to a teammate: you can Wish upon the switch and hopefully recover some of the teammate's HP. AncientPower comes at 33, and is a fairly good move for coverage purposes, as well as having an actually decent chance of triggering its overpowered side effect. Everything else is not really worthy of attention or mention: Safeguard at 37 is outclassed by prevention and healing, Baton Pass at 42 has nothing much to offer with the Togepi line's lack of stat-up moves, and Double-Edge and Last Resort, at 46 and 51 respectively, work off the wrong offensive stat and would only serve any purpose on a Hustle carrier. The evolution into Togetic also opens up the possibility of learning Magical Leaf through the Move Reminder. If you want to teach this move to your Togetic, you should do so before you evolve it into Togekiss, as Togekiss has no access to that move. On the other hand, the evolution into Togekiss offers four whole new options, all available through the Move Reminder once again: Sky Attack, ExtremeSpeed, Aura Sphere and Air Slash. The first two are good for Hustle, and the last two are excellent for any specially oriented Togekiss, which is easily the vast majority of Togekiss, if not the entirety of them. Togetic's TM movepool is really varied, and Togekiss' is even broader. As Togetic, it gets access to Flamethrower and Fire Blast as early as Goldenrod City, and at this point in the game, a Togetic with one such move is basically a war machine. After Morty, you can teach it Shadow Ball as well, another great move. Later during the game, there are options such as Water Pulse, which works very well against paralysed Pokémon; incidentally, Togetic can also learn Thunder Wave, which will work wonders with the aforementioned move. Dream Eater is actually also a valid option, as Togetic gets access to Yawn, though it will not always be reliable due to Togetic's slowness (it won't work on the wake-up turn). Psychic is a valid alternative to that, but once again, postgame-only. The last entry of the special roster is Grass Knot, also worth considering. For support sets, Togetic gets both Reflect and Light Screen, and is excellent at using them thanks to its very good defensive stats; with Light Screen up, nearly no special move whatsoever can scratch it. Togetic can also consider Roost over Wish for quicker recovery, though at the expense of not being able to pass on the HP healing to a teammate. Lastly, for any Togetic carrying Yawn and/or Wish, Protect is the obvious choice. After the first League match, Battle Frontier tutors can also offer Togetic or Togekiss proper Flying STAB in the form of Air Cutter, though it is only worth considering if you don't plan on evolving it, as Togetic has no other special Flying moves available and Togekiss' Air Slash completely outclasses it. Signal Beam also helps with coverage, and so does Ominous Wind, in the event that you already spent the Shadow Ball TM on someone else. Recommended movesets: ''Stall Togetic: Yawn, Protect / Reflect / Light Screen, Extrasensory, Flamethrower / Fire Blast'' ''Support Togetic: Reflect, Light Screen, Wish, Extrasensory / Flamethrower / Fire Blast'' ''Postgame Togetic: Thunder Wave, Water Pulse, Extrasensory, Reflect / Light Screen / Roost'' ''Togekiss: Thunder Wave, Air Slash, Aura Sphere, Water Pulse / Grass Knot'' Other Togepi's stats Togetic's stats Togekiss's stats * What Nature do I want? * Which Ability do I want? * At what point in the game should I be evolved? * How good is the Togepi line in a Nuzlocke? * Weaknesses: * Resistances: * Immunities: * Neutralities: Category:Normal-Type Category:Flying-Type Category:Johto Category:Heart Gold/Soul Silver